CONCACAF
Victor Montagliani | website = |confederation_name = Confederation of North, Central, and Caribbean Association Football}} The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football(CONCACAF) is the continental governing body for association football in North America, Central America and the Caribbean. Three South American entities, the independent nations of Guyana and Suriname and the French department of French Guiana, are also members. CONCACAF was founded in its current form on 18 September 1961 in Mexico City, Mexico, with the merger of the NAFC and the CCCF, which made it one of the then five, now six continental confederations affiliated with FIFA. Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Netherlands Antilles (Curaçao), Nicaragua, Panama, Suriname and United States were founding members. Its primary administrative functions are to organize competitions for national teams and clubs, and to conduct World Cup qualifying tournaments. CONCACAF is the third-most successful FIFA confederation of the six despite being the third smallest one in terms of member nations. Mexico dominated CONCACAF men's competition early on, however since 2000 the USA has achieved the most success. The U.S. is the only country outside of Europe and South America to receive a medal in the World Cup, finishing third in 1930. They also reached the 2002 World Cup quarterfinals and the 2009 Confederations Cup final. Mexico has finished sixth in both the 1970 and 1986 World Cups and won the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup. Both nations have won all but one of the editions of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. In recent years Costa Rica has become a power in the region and in 2014 became the 4th CONCACAF country to make the World Cup quarterfinals. United States has been very successful in the women's game, being the only CONCACAF member to win any of the three major worldwide competitions in women's football—the World Cup (2), the Olympics (4), and the Algarve Cup (9). Governance CONCACAF is led by a General Secretariat, Executive Committee, Congress, and several committees. The Executive Committee is composed of seven members — one chairman, three Vice Presidents, and three members. Each of the three geographic zones in CONCACAF are represented by one Vice President and one member. The Executive Committee carries out the various statutes, regulations, and resolutions. Leadership The first leader of CONCACAF was Costa Rican Ramón Coll Jaumet; he had overseen the merger between the NAFC and the CCCF. He was succeeded in the role by Mexican Joaquín Soria Terrazas in 1969 who served as president for 21 years. His successor Jack Warner was the CONCACAF president from 1990 to 2011, also for 21 years. Warner was suspended as president on 30 May 2011 due to his temporary suspension from football related activity by FIFA following corruption allegations. Chuck Blazer was the General Secretary during the same period. On 20 June 2011, Jack Warner resigned from the presidency of CONCACAF, and removed himself from all participation in football, in the wake of the corruption investigation resulting from the 10 May 2011 meeting of the Caribbean Football Union. The vice-president of CONCACAF, Alfredo Hawit, acted as president until May 2012. In May 2012, Cayman Islands banker Jeffrey Webb was installed as President of CONCACAF. Copa America Mexico has finished runners up twice and 3rd place three times at the Copa America making El Tri the most successful non-CONMEBOL nation. The US national team and Honduras have reached the semifinal stage once in the South American tournament, while Costa Rica has reached the quarter finals twice. Category:Confederations